Welcome to the International POPs Elimination Network
In the run-up to the Rio + 20 global meeting, IPEN and partners have created a Global Common Statement for a Toxics-Free Future to create greater awareness about the increasing amounts of toxic chemicals in the environment, our food, communities and children. The endorsers of this statement have not forgotten the commitments made at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. Twenty years later, Rio+20 offers little or nothing to ensure the commitments are carried out and basic rights are secured for all people.
This Statement has been presented for consideration and adoption to NGOs and CSOs in all regions of the world as part of a global campaign to secure more than 1,000 NGO endorsements in at least 80 countries. On the 11th of June 2012, NGOs will gather at the Toxics-Free Future Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the important message carried in the Global Common Statement for a Toxics-Free Future will be released to the world's leaders.
Additional resources and information about the Statement, including how your organization can endorse it, can be found at: www.ipen.org/toxics-free-2012
New to the Issues?
What is the Stockholm Convention?
Read about the Stockholm Convention and how it protects us all from POPs.
Envisioning a Toxics-Free Future
Read how IPEN groups all over the world are working for a toxics free future.
Educational Guides
NGO Educational Guides to Key International Policies: Download educational booklets on POPs, Highly Hazardous Pesticides and SAICM.
These booklets are available in several languages, and provide a swift orientation of key international chemical policies and how NGOs can utilize agreements by the international community to protect their local communities from toxic threats.
IPEN Updates & Action
IPEN Thoughts about Preparing for INC4
In the run-up to the 4th International Negotiating Committee (INC4) on a global, legally binding instrument on mercury, IPEN has prepared a new document: IPEN Thoughts about Preparing for INC4. While some progress was made at INC3, IPEN believes that weak measures on important treaty elements, along with the complete stalemate on emissions and financial considerations, raise concerns about whether the treaty will affect the rising trend in mercury levels. Without authentic action to address mercury sources the treaty may actually legitimize the rising emissions while failing to protect human health and the environment.
• Read the document here: English | Arabic | Chinese | French | Japanese | Russian | Spanish
Implicaciones sociales y ambientales del desarrollo de las nanotecnologías en América Latina y el Caribe
IPEN Participating Organization ReLANS has produced a new booklet about the social and environmental implications of nanotechnology in Latin America, available in both Spanish and English. By Guillermo Foladori and Noela Invernizzi with the collaboration of Fernando Bejarano in the SAICM sections.
UN Conference on Environment and Development Marks 20th Anniversary
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, and ten years since the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development. A "Rio + 20" conference will take place in Brazil in June. IPEN will participate in Rio + 20; specifically to elevate our toxics-free future mission into the process, ensure that toxic chemical issues are part of the agenda, and by expanding the discussions from a Green Economy to include Green Societies and Green Environments.
• See IPEN's draft submission to the Rio+20 Zero Document English | Russian (PDF)
• See IPEN Text Recommendations for the 'Chemicals and Waste' Section (Rio+20 Prepcom1) (PDF)
• See IPEN's views on appropriate language for the 'Chemicals and Waste' & 'Science and Technology' Sections (Rio+20 Prepcom2) (PDF)
More information about IPEN's engagement in the Rio+20 process will be posted shortly.
Joint IPEN-Greenpeace Study Finds Toxic Chemicals in Products in China
IPEN's Joe DiGangi appeared on the front page of ChinaDaily News. Read the article or see the press coverage list.On the 7th of December 2011, in Beijing and Hong Kong, IPEN and Greenpeace jointly launched a study of heavy metals in children's products on the Chinese market.
The study looked at 500 children's products — including toys, school supplies and other products — from five Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Hong Kong.) We tested for six toxics heavy metals using an XRF device. For details, please visit the Greenpeace East Asia website and the IPEN-China page. The IPEN page contains full testing results in English. Results are also available in Chinese in a searchable database on the Greenpeace website.
First Open-Ended Working Group for SAICM
Numerous representatives from IPEN Participating Organizations recently attended the 1st Open-Ended Working Group for SAICM (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management) in Belgrade. Click below for some thoughts and observations about the meeting in the document: "IPEN Quick Views of SAICM OEWG," and here for additional information.
* POPs Persistent Organic Pollutants. This is a group of chemicals that are very toxic to people and the environment.
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